In a recent message, “Some Sweet Blessings of Masculine Christianity,” John Piper defined Biblical masculinity this way: By “masculine Christianity,” I mean (though words are inadequate): The theology and the church and the mission are marked by over-arching male leadership and an ethos of tender-hearted strength and contrite courage and risk-taking decisiveness and readiness to […]
Read More Piper on Biblical MasculinityDawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, was a uniquely gifted and effective evangelist and discipler. His heart for the latter is demonstrated in his sermon, “Born to Reproduce.” It’s the first time I’ve heard a recording of one of his sermons, and I found it personally challenging. It’s worth a listen.
Read More Born to ReproduceYou know how to read. I know that. But sometimes a little guidance on how to get control over that growing stack of books on your night stand (or wherever your favorite place to stack things is) would be helpful. Here are six tips from Al Mohler: Maintain regular reading projects. Work through major sections […]
Read More Reading TipsTim Keller on the role of worship in transformation: A Christian, if you looked into the Mirror of Erised [Desire] you would see yourself perfectly enjoying God and if you could have one perfect act of worship in which you perfectly valued Him, in which you perfectly enjoyed Him, if you completely enjoyed Him as […]
Read More Worship and TransformationGreg Bahnsen articulates clearly and well the fundamental differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. We are not one with Catholics; they do believe a different gospel; and we must not (for the sake of their eternal destiny) suppose that we believe the same work of Christ. Listen to “The Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Right?”
Read More The difference between Catholicism and ProtestantismSome leftover quotations after thinking about God’s purposeful (read: sovereign) intention to use all circumstances to make worshippers out of unbelievers: “Our trials reveal the measure of our affection for this earth — both its good things and bad things. Our troubles expose our latent idolatry.” [John Piper, Life as a Vapor.] “In order to […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (10/21/07)At the recent Desiring God Conference, “Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints,” Jerry Bridges addressed the topic of how to endure, even when others sin against you: “Life is frequently difficult, and it’s sometimes painful. And if you live long enough, you will experience both difficulties and pain. And if you want […]
Read More Enduring with Christ When Others Sin Against YouThe truth that not all who claim to believe Christ are genuinely believers in Christ is not a popular message. The common assumption is that all who profess Christ possess Christ. Yet it wasn’t that way in the day of Christ, and it isn’t that way now. The people of Galilee were interested in Christ […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (9/30/07)See the deplorable condition of all ungodly people! In the other world, they shall have a life that always dies and a death that always lives. [Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture.] Most people — whether they trust in Christ or not — think too little of hell. Believers think too little of hell, not […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (9/23/07)The heart of pride is not only the exaltation of self, but even more tragically, it is the diminishing of God. As Thomas Watson has noted, “pride is the greatest sacrilege; it robs God of his glory.” Every prideful act is a defiant gesture of the inadequacy of God, and the self-exaltation of self. This […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (9/16/07)I am aware of bloggers who blog with more consistency than me. Just this morning, I read another blogger who asserted, “I blog every day…” I don’t. A couple months ago, I went on vacation. While not “secluded,” it was far enough away from “civilization” that my cell phone had no signal (Oh happy day!). […]
Read More Why I blog in spurtsThe story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53 – 8:11) is fundamentally not about the woman, not about her sin, and not about the scribes or Pharisees. It’s not even really about judgmentalism. It is about Jesus Christ. And specifically, it is about how Christ is the bridge between the Law […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (9/9/07)This is the question asked by John Piper: “if you could have everything about Heaven — forgiveness, fellowship, absence of sin and pain and death, etc. — but God is not there, would you still want it?” The question is addressing the heart of the gospel. Do we want the gospel for our own self-exalting […]
Read More Why do you want to go to Heaven?“If we understood Hell even the slightest bit, none of us would ever say, ‘Go to Hell.’ It’s far too easy to go to Hell. It requires no change of course, no navigational adjustments. We were born with our autopilot set toward Hell. It is nothing to take lightly — Hell is the single greatest […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (8/26/07)When you are a baseball fan and the greatest claim to fame your team can make is a 1-9 post-season record, two no-hitters by a 40-something hall-of-famer who did most of his outstanding work prior to arriving on your team, and the worst contract in the history of baseball (cost to team approximately 3 years, […]
Read More 30-3
